Feyi-Waboso burns bright as England energy endorses Borthwick
England ease pressure on Borthwick after big win over Australia
That’s what Bongi Mbonambi described it as.
After scraping past Steve Borthwick’s side in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-final, the South Africa hooker was scathing of England’s back-slapping and celebrating of in-game wins.
By then, it had already become something of a meme. Back row Ben Earl pumping his fist to celebrate Ireland’s crooked line-out throw in a pre-tournament warm-up was a particular source of online mockery.
But, while it isn’t the diesel grunt that can win matches on its own, “plastic energy” is still something.
It is the body language that shows mindset and intent, that a team’s pilot light is on and burning bright.
England had it under Borthwick at the Stade de France three years ago, coming agonisingly close to derailing the Springboks. And they had it in spades in Sunday’s 45-22 win against the Wallabies.
Earl, inevitably, was one outlet, loudly celebrating a third-minute scrum success.
But there were plenty more examples throughout the match. Jamie George bellowing into the stands after the opening score; captain Maro Itoje being surrounded with congratulations after an early charge-down; Henry Slade being embraced after a lung-busting late try-saving tackle on Max Jorgensen.
A report in the Times newspaper earlier in the week had said that a rift between the players and their coach opened in Argentina in July, at the end of the summer’s campaign.
England’s senior player denied it. Nothing more to see, they said, than the transparent honesty of a team where input is valued and improvement is the lodestar.
But, they also promised proof on the pitch against Australia. It was a risky gambit.
Another misfiring, disjointed, underpowered performance – like that in their most-recent visit to Twickenham, February’s 42-21 defeat by Ireland – would dial up the pressure on Borthwick another notch.
Instead, his fired-up players turned up.
They did so in the obvious ways. There was gainline physicality, breakdown bravery and crunching physicality.
Ben Curry leaping out of the line to land a big hit on fly-half Declan Meredith was satisfyingly old school.
But there was more than that. There was a different sort of bravery – the one that dares to chance the arm, throw a final pass and back ability, rather than take a safe option.
Full-back George Furbank summed it up. Playing his first Test in nearly two years, his ball-playing smarts were summed up by a delicious involvement in Jack van Poortvliet’s try, hitting a line, flashing a dummy and smuggling an offload to cut the Wallabies to ribbons.
Henry Slade and Seb Atkinson pulled strings expertly as well.
Immanuel Feyi-Waboso showed the sort of Test match mojo that England must protect at all costs.
The Exeter wing, who, like Furbank, has endured a rotten injury run, was electric in the first half.
Every time the 23-year-old touched the ball, expectation crackled around the stands. And it was mostly met.
Feyi-Woboso’s ankle injury was a major concern for England after a glittering first half performance
In 40 minutes of rugby, Feyi-Waboso made 113m from eight carries, beating seven defenders.
All those figures were unmatched by any other England player despite the fact that Feyi-Waboso came off at the break and only played 32 minutes uninjured.
The wing’s ankle was caught under prop Angus Bell’s considerable heft and was cossetted in a protective boot as he watched the remainder of the match from the sidelines.
After Feyi-Waboso’s absence from the entirety of England’s Six Nations campaign, the decision not to remove him immediately and minimise the damage may be one they regret when the prognosis lands.
England looked to his pace, power and unpredictability as much as they could, feeding him on a dart off the blindside wing from one promising line-out position.
They may be missing it next week against Japan. And potentially beyond.
Henry Pollock, with a shock of freshly-peroxided hair, came on and inevitably stole the spotlight, with two tries in a cameo on the wing.
But, on the wing, Pollock is a stop-gap, while Feyi-Waboso is the star.
His fitness, along with that of Seb Atkinson, will be chief of Borthwick’s concerns.
A cleaned-up disciplinary display – with seven penalties conceded and only the second time this year they have managed to avoid being shown a card – and breakdown that was quick and clean were major plus points.
The bench maintained their dominance with an all-Lions front row of Ellis Genge, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Will Stuart trotting on to turn the screw was a welcome sight.
“I am really proud,” Borthwick told BBC Sport.
“These players are a wonderful group. We have had bumps in the road. There are a number who are 25 and under who are developing great into Test match players and you have the older players.
“It is an interesting balance and they are working so well together. It’s a pleasure to work with them.”
Australia were desperately poor. Their players are in the midst of a pay dispute with Rugby Australia, an unwelcome distraction that has gone under the radar given the focus on Borthwick.
New Zealand, rejuvenated under new coach Dave Rennie, will offer a far more formidable stress test in a fortnight.
But as the team’s energy spread to the stands, with the vast majority of the 81,334 won over by the display, Sunday was a victory for England to savour at the end of a difficult week.
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